A Walk Down Memory Lane
by StrawberryPajamas
Summary: Jim Halpert was nervous this cold Friday morning in October because later this day, he would be taking his daughter Cecelia out driving for the first time. A Cecilia/Jim futurefic
1. Not What We Expected

**A/N: Even though Cecelia is sixteen in this story, this does not take place sixteen years in the future. Since I don't own a DeLorean that contains a flux capacitor which runs on plutonium, I'm afraid I don't know what things are going to be like in 2026. (Extra Brownie points if you know what movie I'm referencing to.)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Office

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Whenever Jim got nervous about something, he would start fidgeting, and Pam Halpert would be lying if she said she thought it wasn't cute. His eyes would widen and his eyebrows would jump up his forehead. His hands would start rubbing up and down his pantlegs, as if trying to dry the sweat on his palms. He would shuffle his feet and his eyes would dart to anything but the person in front of him. When he spoke, his voice would be about half an octave higher, laughing unnecessarily at unfunny things. His smiles would be tremulous, pleading almost, as if silently asking the person to save him from this constant state of torture he was suffering through.

Jim Halpert was nervous this cold Friday morning in October because later this day, he would be taking his daughter Cecelia out driving for the first time.

"I don't get why you're so nervous, sweetie." Pam, Jim's wife, leaned against the front door frame, a mug of coffee in her hands. She sipped at it as she watched her husband in the driveway, the front door to their car thrown open and Jim sitting in the driver's seat, his legs sticking out onto the pavement. "I've driven with Cece tons of times around the industrial parking lot before and she's not that bad- -"

"Nervous? No, no I'm not nervous." Jim interrupted hastily, his voice sounding muffled as his upper half was twisted around and leaned inside the car, his head hidden around where the glove compartment was. "I know I left the car registration number here somewhere..." he mumbled to himself, shifting maps and miscellaneous items around.

"Check your back pocket." Pam suggested, shivering in the early morning cold and again raising the mug of warm coffee to her lips.

Jim froze in his fervent searching, and his hand quickly jumped to his back left pocket, feeling the packet there. Sighing with relief, he straightened up and rubbed a hand across his forehead.

"I knew that." he said unconvincingly, moving the hand on his forehead up to his hair, running his fingers through the shaggy tresses.

"Sure you did." Pam smiled as she walked, barefoot, out onto the driveway toward her husband. She stopped in front of the car, her hand on her hip, observing him. "That's why you're preparing the car for a road trip that's not happening for another seven hours." Pam raised an eyebrow meaningfully, and Jim's face reddened, choosing not to answer.

Suddenly, a teenage girl appeared at the door, looking at neither Jim nor Pam. Backpack slung over her left shoulder, her eyes were focused downward on a small, green ipod, which she was thumbing through. White earbuds were hanging from either side of her head as she walked across the threshold, allowing the screen door to slam shut behind her as she made her way across the lawn.

Cecilia Halpert was definitely not what Jim and Pam had expected. True, she was a very beautiful young woman. Cecilia had inherited her mother's slight figure and Jim's lanky stature, giving her the tall, willowy appearance of one of those supermodels you only ever saw on TV. But, her parents had to admit, her personality was nothing short of odd. It all started when she was about twelve, when she went up to her mother and said that she wanted to cut her long, brown hair short and dye it red. Jim had come home that day and practically yelled in surprise when he saw her. Around that age, she also began writing poetry and changing her sense of fashion into a tomboy-ish nightmare, consisting mostly of overlarge men's flannel shirts with skinny jeans and Chucks. Not to mention, along with her obscene style, she was rather fond of getting into screaming arguments with her parents over the most trivial things, like babysitting when she didn't want to. When unprovoked, however, she was rather sulky and moody, rarely uttering more than a dozen words to her parents every day. Cecilia constantly stated that she hated to draw (whether this was true or just a rebellious act toward her mother, neither Jim nor Pam knew), but she was artistic in every other sense of the word. She wrote poems and stories, was a member of her high school's drama club, and was very musically gifted. She was incredibly good at the violin, but she would never admit it to anyone other than her instructor, Ms. Pricsilla (the woman seemed to take Cecilia in sort of as her protégé, a fact Pam and Jim supported, though never fully understood). But if she wasn't practicing the violin or doing her homework, she would be locked up in her room, presumably listening to her ipod or writing her adolescent angst out on paper.

Yes, Pam and Jim were rather aware of the fact that they were rather frightened of their little angel.

Cece (her choppy hair, as of last year, now a shade of buttery yellow) glanced up when she noticed she was not alone in the front yard. She stared mutely at her parents, still with the earbuds inside her ears, before turning her attention back to thumbing through her ipod. That was the most the two adults usually got out of her.

Pam and Jim silently watched their daughter walk toward the end of the driveway, her back turned to them. Today, she was wearing a huge grey Boston sweatshirt that seemed to swallow up her skinny frame, black skin-tight jeans, and large clunky hiking boots. Jim looked at his wife with raised eyebrows.

More often than not, Pam and Jim would let her get away with the silent treatment, but they had important plans involving her today that couldn't be ignored. Therefore, Pam half-glanced at her husband before striding purposefully up to her daughter, who was now standing on the sidewalk, waiting for the bus to bring her and her sister to school.

"Hey," Pam said loudly, ripping the bud from Cecilia's ear. 'Panama' by Van Halen was blasting loudly from the exposed speaker. "Your father and I need to talk to you."

Cece, who looked thoroughly annoyed by her mother interrupting her hard rock reverie, reluctantly ripped out the other bud in order to listen to what she had to say. "What?"

"You remember your father is taking you up to Scranton today to help Grandma move her armoire, right?"

"Yeah." Cecelia dragged out the word, obviously implying 'duh'.

Pam hesitated a brief second before nodding. "... Good." She obviously didn't know what else to say. "As long as you remember."

"We're leaving at around four." Jim piped up helpfully from the car. Cecilia's large brown eyes moved over to her father. "That way you'll have enough time to come home and get ready and stuff. Plus get a bite to eat."

The girl actually grinned slightly. "Jojo's?"

"Where else?" Jim chuckled. Jojo's Burgers had been Jim's and Cecilia's place ever since the family had moved to Preston, New Jersey nearly eleven years ago.

"Yeah!" Pam looked, grinning, between her husband and daughter, apparently wanting to be in on their inside joke. "Yeah, you guys can go to Jojo's!"

Pam nudged her daughter playfully in the ribs. Cece stepped back slightly, her smile dropping.

Suddenly, a large yellow bus turned the corner and pulled up in front of Cece, who quickly shoved both earbuds back in place inside her ears before striding up toward the bus doors, which were sliding open. Pam, who's expression was a look of frozen hurt at Cecilia's reaction, suddenly spun around toward the front door, her eyes wide with shock.

"Jim! Katie's not up! I forgot to wake her this morning!" Pam panicked. Jim stared dumbly at her, his mouth open slightly in surprise.

Cecelia, however, poked her head back out of the bus and called toward the house's open front door: "KATIE! TIME TO GO!"

A young girl of about eight years old quickly sprinted out into the yard, slamming the door shut behind her. She had long, curly brown hair, usually put up into a high ponytail. Today, she was wearing a simple pink t-shirt and jeans with old, worn-out sneakers. A polka-dot Jansport backpack bumped wildly on her back and her ponytailed hair swung crazily as she tore across the lawn, a duffel bag swinging from her wrist and purple basketball tucked under her arm.

"I'm... here..." The little girl panted, skidding to a stop in front of her deeply relieved mother. "Cece... woke me... up..."

"Great." Pam hurriedly leaned down and hugged Katie goodbye. "Do you have a lunch?"

Katie gasped, her eyes round as saucers. "Oh no...!"

"Gotcha!" Jim had silently disappeared into the house, emerging at that moment with two bagged lunches. He tossed one to Katie, who caught it with a grin with her basketball-free hand. He held the other one up questioningly to Cecilia, who rolled her eyes: an obvious 'no thanks' to her father's hastily-made lunch.

The bus driver honked angrily. Cece turned at once to proceed up the steps, and little Katie ran and leapt onto the bus before the doors closed behind her.

The parents watched the school bus drive down the long street before it turned another corner and disappeared. Pam turned wearily around to face her husband.

"We swore we would never screw up like that again after Cece's second day of kindergarten."

Jim shrugged, walking up toward her. "It was bound to happen again. Also, this wasn't _nearly_ as bad as Cece's second day of kindergarten."

Pam nodded resignedly, remembering that fateful day where a five-year-old Cecilia, after throwing a tantrum because she didn't want to go to school, decided to throw up in protest on the bus, which pissed the driver off enough to call in the two parents to drag the girl back home. "True..."

The two stood silently, side-by-side, as they looked thoughtfully toward the rising sun.

"We should probably go inside," Jim surreptitiously glanced down at his wife's rather ratty robe. "And maybe change into proper clothes."

Pam's calm expression darkened slightly. "Yeah. But shouldn't you be getting ready for that _three-hour long_ road trip you're letting Cece drive today, hmm?"

Pam quirked an eyebrow and turned away, a small, triumphant smile on her face as she began walking across the lawn toward their house without even a glance back at her husband. Jim was now looking helplessly and utterly nervous once again.

**~To Be Continued~

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**A/N: So do you like it so far? I wanted this to be a twoshot, but I think it might end up being a little longer than that. **

**Could you find it in your hearts to review? You'd be making my day:)**


	2. Taco Salad

Friday

3:30 p.m.

It was after school and the two girls were finally back home. Cecilia had already barricaded herself in her room without a glance at her mother, who was busily making dinner for herself and Katie that night, seeing as the two were going to be by themselves. Katie pulled her backpack off the moment she came through the front door and sat herself onto a kitchen stool by the counter where Pam was working. Katie's small legs dangled about a foot off the ground as she propped her elbows onto the countertop, staring imploringly at her mother.

"Mommy?"

Pam was distractedly searching through cupboards, apparently looking for the large salad bowl. "Yeah, baby?"

"Where are Daddy and Cece going today?"

Pam was pulling out a clear, plastic bowl from the cupboard near the window. She turned around and set it on the counter in front of Katie. "They're going to Grandma's house."

Katie's green eyes widened with innocent surprise. "But why aren't we going with them?"

Pam turned back around and opened the fridge. "Well, they're not going there just to visit. They're going there to _work_."

Katie scrunched her nose at her most hated word: _work_. "Eww. But why?"

Pam reemerged from inside the refrigerator, arms full of lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers. "Well, she needs help getting rid of her armoire..."

Katie's mouth dropped open in shock. "Get rid of her _arm_?"

Pam pulled out a large knife from the cutlery drawer and laughed. "No, no sweetie: _armoire_. It's a fancy cupboard used for holding plates and stuff, and Grandma doesn't want hers anymore."

Katie's expression seemed to drop a few notches. "Oh." She almost sounded disappointed.

Pam laughed again as she pulled the nearest head of lettuce toward her and began chopping it up. Eager to help, Katie tucked her feet under her butt and sprang up on her knees, grappling for the shredded leaves and dumping them into the bowl for her mother. The two girls began chatting about how their day was, and soon, all of the vegetables were chopped up and mixed together into a colorful salad.

When they were done, Katie peered into the large bowl and examined the contents, which barely filled a third of the dish. She frowned. "This is kind of a boring salad, Mommy..."

"Well, that's cause it's not finished yet." Pam smiled and raised her eyebrows suggestively before turning toward the fridge, reaching for something on top of it and pulling down a large bag of tortilla chips hiding towards the back.

Katie, suddenly understanding, shot up from her seat, squealing with glee. "TACO SALAD!"

Pam laughed as she brought the bag over to the bowl, ripping it open and dumping it into the veggie-filled bowl. Katie began doing a little happy dance – she wiggled her hips and clapped her hands together while chanting "Taco salad! Taco salad! Taco salad!" over and over again with a wide grin on her face. It was easy to guess what her favorite meal was.

Katie hopped off her stool and scuttled toward the fridge, offering to grab the salsa and taco sauce from it, still singing "Taco salad!" on the top of her voice, when Jim walked into the room. His wife grinned in apology to him when he noticed Katie skipping around like a hyperactive five-year-old.

"Taco salad! Taco salad!" Katie trilled happily.

Pam met Jim's eyes. "Three guesses what we're having for dinner."

Jim chuckled. "Hmm, I wonder..."

"Daddy!" Katie noticed her father and leapt toward him, still grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Daddy, Mommy's making taco salad!"

"Wow, sweetie! Sounds great!" Jim said enthusiastically. Katie tittered before swiftly running back to her mother, handing over the bottles of salsa and taco sauce. Pam took them, grinning.

Suddenly, Cecilia walked into the room. Everyone seemed to go quiet upon her arrival.

Pam, her grin sliding off her face, coughed slightly before speaking. "Hey, sweetie. You ready for the trip?"

Cecilia, who was texting busily on her cell phone, didn't answer.

Pam's smile was completely gone now. She eyed her daughter warily – the girl had changed out of her bulky sweater and was now wearing a green, overlarge men's flannel, a brown tank top, black board shorts, and dirty old DC tennis shoes that appeared to be falling apart. If her skin hadn't been immaculately clean and zit-free, Pam was sure strangers on the street would take her as a homeless girl.

Jim quickly covered the awkward silence. "Yeah, Cece and I were just about to leave. Right?" he directed toward his daughter, who made a small noise of consent in the back of her throat.

Pam moved toward her husband and leaned forward, pecking him on the cheek. "Well, goodbye! Have a nice time."

"Say hi to Gramma Beesly for us!" Katie squealed from behind the counter, gazing hungrily at the bowl of salad.

"Yeah, send Mom my love." Pam directed at Jim, who nodded, smiling.

"Sure thing. Anything else?"

Pam thought for a second. "Oh, yeah! She still has my teapot!"

"What?"

"She borrowed my teapot like a year ago and never returned it. Could you get it back for me?"

Jim frowned at her. "What teapot?"

Pam looked at him with incredulous disbelief. "My teapot! You know, the one you got me for Christmas like twenty years ago? The green one, remember?"

Jim nodded with comprehension. "Ohh, right. Yeah, I remember that one. Sure, I can get it back for you."

"Thanks." Pam sighed with relief.

Jim turned towards his oldest daughter. "Ready to go, Cecilia?"

The girl slipped her phone into one of her vast cargo pockets and looked up to her father. "Yep. Let's hit the road." She grinned and spoke in a brisk, bubbly tone while walking past her family and out the front door, into the driveway.

Jim caught Pam's raised eyebrows and grinned before following the girl outside. The screen door bounced shut behind him.

Pam looked back at her other daughter, who was gazing at the front door with a slightly dumb expression. "Mommy, I don't understand Cece."

Pam shook her head before heading back over toward the kitchen. "Neither do I sweetie... neither do I."

~/~

"Ugh, Dad, come _on_! I went over this like a dozen times with Mom..."

"I'm not your mother, now, am I? C'mon, it's a simple test: where's the emergency brake?"

Cecilia rolled her eyes and pointed to the bar to the right of her seat.

"Headlights?"

Cece flicked them on, then off.

"Turn signals?"

Cecilia demonstrated both left and right signals.

Jim nodded, satisfied. "Okay, now show me how to reverse."

Cece let go of the steering wheel with one hand and shifted the stick a few notches. Squaring her shoulders, she pressed her foot lightly to the accelerator...

The car suddenly jerked forward, causing Jim and Cecilia to be thrown unceremoniously up before Cecilia had the sense to slam on the brakes, her and Jim bucking wildly for a second before the car stopped completely.

The shock took a few seconds to recover from: Cecilia was gripping the steering wheel with bloodless knuckles, panting slightly. Jim's nervous habits were showing worse than ever now, his arms gripped tightly onto the armrest.

"Sorry." the girl said meekly before really shifting the car into reverse, turning around to check for oncoming traffic out of the rear window. She began to back up very slowly. "My bad."

Jim gulped before flexing his clammy fingers off the armrest. "It's okay." he said in a voice that was not his own.

Jim already decided that he would drive on the way back home.


	3. Daddy's Little Romantic

Friday

5:45 p.m.

The ride there was rather uneventful, which was an enormous relief to Jim. True, when Cecilia had turned into Jojo's parking lot, the car fishtailed wildly, and Jim had shouted out loud in surprise (Cecilia glared reproachfully at him once she got the car back under control); plus, he had held his breath apprehensively at every curve and stop sign (he now felt a little light-headed because of it). But now Cecilia seemed to be doing fine.

Jim saw the familiar "Welcome To Scranton" sign, and couldn't help but grin exasperatedly.

"We're here."

"Yay." Cecilia said in an expressionless voice, rolling her eyes.

Jim wouldn't let his daughter's foul mood bring him down – he was back in his old hometown. Memories of all that had taken place here brought back warm feelings, despite who was behind the wheel.

They drove down the same road for about five minutes before Jim had a sudden idea. "Turn here." Jim pointed left, toward Euclid Avenue, and Cece obliged.

After a minute, Cecilia glanced over at her father, her brow furrowed. "Wait – I thought Grandma lived on Harrison Street. This is the wrong way – we should've turned right on Orchard Street a little ways down Main, right?"

Jim raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Wow, you've got a good memory. Yeah, you're right, but we're not due at Grandma's for another few hours or so. I thought we could make a little detour."

He could tell his daughter was concealing a groan with difficulty, but didn't let it bother him. She was going to like their day together, he was determined about that.

~/~

For about ten minutes, Cecilia drove through Scranton, her father telling her to turn every so often. Soon, it was after six o'clock and the two were beginning to get hungry.

"Here – lets go there for dinner." Jim smiled and pointed into a parking lot off to their left: a tiny sit-down restaurant called Cuginos. Cece flipped on her signal and turned. Jim discreetly sucked in a breath, hoping Cecilia hadn't heard. She parked the car in a nearby spot before glaring pointedly at her father.

So she had noticed.

"Sorry." Jim chuckled sheepishly before opening the passenger door and stepping outside. Cece rolled her eyes exasperatedly before following him outside.

~/~

"So... any new guys in your life you wanna tell me about?"

"Da-_ad_..."

Cecilia and Jim were sitting inside Cuginos small, cozy pizza parlor, examining menus and trying to decide what pizza they were going to order. Their waiter, a cute guy in his mid-twenties, had seated them and was now bustling over to grab their drinks (lemonade for Cecilia, Pepsi for Jim). Jim watched, smirking, as his daughter's gaze following the cute waiter's retreating figure.

At her father's comment, Cece's pretty eyes snapped immediately from the waiter to her father, looking extremely annoyed and embarrassed.

Jim shrugged, shielding his face protectively from her with his menu. "It's a simple question, sweetie. But you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Cecilia, words failing her, decided to examine her menu with severe scrutiny.

"... of course, you should never feel obligated _not_ to answer if you really wanted to..." Jim went on ruthlessly.

Cecilia's pale cheeks turned a flushed pink, but she still stayed silent, staring fiercely at a point on her pizza menu.

"I am your father, you know, Cece, and there's not much you can hide from me..." The dad grinned, enjoying teasing his daughter.

The girl pressed her lips together but still remained silent.

Chuckling, Jim casually picked up his menu again and studied it with raised eyebrows. Almost as an aside, he asked her: "So how's trig class been going lately?"

Cece's reaction was instantaneous – and rather odd. Instead of being confused by her father's abrupt change of subject, she let her menu slip through her fingers and land limply on the table before burying her crimson face in her hands, groaning with utter exasperation. Jim couldn't help it, and laughed.

Mr. Nickelby, Cecilia's trigonometry teacher, was always a bit of a soft spot with her. Mr. Nickelby was a young, handsome, twenty-something year old man with prodigious math skills, not to mention Cece's absolute favorite teacher in high school. According to her, the man could make even the most difficult cosecant reciprocal functions seem as simple as fifth-grade algebra. She obviously admired him very much, and her parents and sister knew it. Teasing her about being 'Hot For Teacher' had become a bit of a game within the Halpert residence; a game that greatly annoyed Cecilia.

Now Cece lifted her face out of her hands and glared angrily at her father. "Dad – _how_ many times do I have to tell you? I _don't_ - "

"Okay, okay..." Jim cut her off, chuckling. "I'm only teasing you!"

"I know." Cecilia growled. "And I do _not_ appreciate it, okay?"

Jim didn't answer. His grin slid off his face and the pair fell into a prickly silence as they avoided each others gaze, examining their menus. Finally, after three and a half silent minutes, their waiter returned with their drink orders. Cecilia accepted her glass without looking up at the server, mumbling an indistinct 'thanks'.

"Are you ready to order yet?" The young man asked expectantly, extracting his notepad and pencil from his apron pocket.

"Any ideas, Cece?" Jim directed at his daughter. She just shrugged moodily.

Jim licked his lower lip before glancing one last time at his menu. He then folded it up and handed it up to the waiter. "We'll have a medium pizza, thick crust – half sausage, half hawaiian. Also, a double order of cheesy breadsticks with marinara sauce."

The man quickly jotted it down. "Very good, sir. Will that be all?"

"Yep. Thanks." Jim smiled as the waiter collected Cecilia's menu and tucked both against his chest. He smiled at the two before bustling off to fulfill their order.

Jim turned his head back toward the table to take a sip of his Pepsi when he noticed his daughter staring at him.

"What?"

All hints of her grumpy silence gone, Cecilia tilted her head in sober confusion. "That was an oddly specific order."

Jim shrugged. "So? Do you not like hawaiian pizza or something?"

"No, I do. I'm just curious as to whether or not you planned that."

Jim looked at her for a moment, apparently thinking hard. "Yes and no." he eventually decided on.

Cece raised her eyebrows.

Jim, noticing his daughter's expression, chuckled self-consciously. "Yeah, sorry – that was a totally enigmatic answer... I just meant to say that I _had_ thought about it, but just a long time ago."

Cecilia's eyebrows raised even higher, complete surprise showing on her face. "Wait: you've _been_ here before?"

Jim laughed loudly at this ludicrously ironic question. He laughed for a several seconds before noticing his daughter's reproachful look, and finally faded into quiet chuckles.

"Cece – you really think I just chose this restaurant at random?"

She didn't answer, but her face definitely showed heightened curiosity, obviously wanting him to continue.

"... Not only is Cuginos pizza the best pizza in all of southeastern Pennsylvania, this restaurant is actually where your mother and I had our first date."

He paused, and Cecilia's face seemed to freeze in mild surprise for the slightest of seconds before doing something odd...

She smiled.

"Oh." She said quietly, nodding her head slowly in dawning comprehension. Her lips curled up in a sweet, indulgent grin that greatly enhanced her already beautiful features. Jim was a little surprised – it was so long since he had seen her smile like this. It was a nice change from her normal brooding expression.

"Yep." Jim couldn't help but smile back at her. "And we ordered a medium pizza with thick crust, half sausage and half hawaiian topping. Side order of cheesy breadsticks with marinara sauce, too. Your mother even had the lemonade." he added, nodding toward his daughter's drink.

Cecilia actually giggled. "Really? No way, you're lying."

"Swear to God." Jim put a hand over his heart, still grinning. "And I had a Pepsi, too."

"Right." Cecilia rolled her eyes. "Next you're going to tell me that we're sitting at the same table you two sat at years ago."

"Oh no, that was over there." Her father pointed to a table on the other side of the restaurant, which was in a dimly lit, semi-romantic area of the small establishment. Cece laughed.

"Well, why aren't we sitting there?" Her brown eyes went wide with anticipation, looking at her father expectantly. Now it was Jim's turn to laugh.

"Cecilia, do you honestly think we're on a date right now?"

"No." the girl deflated slightly, but added defensively. "You went through all this trouble to recreate your guys's first date, why not go the whole nine yards with it?"

"No, Cece. It's fine, really..."

"Come on!" the girl said eagerly, her eyes glinting excitedly. "This was your _first date_! Isn't that, like, a really big deal?"

Jim smirked at his daughter, who was still looking at him with wide-eyed attention. He felt a rush of emotion for the teenage girl. She was still so young. "Cecilia, I hate to burst your romantic little bubble here... but I seriously doubt your mother would even remember this meal we had."

Cecilia blinked, staring at her father. The warm air of happiness that had surrounded her vanished in almost an instant. "What?"

"Here we are."

The waiter had suddenly reappeared, balancing their pizza and two plates skillfully in one hand and a large basket of cheese-covered breadsticks in the other. Jim and Cecilia quickly turned away from each other and thanked the waiter gratefully as he set his items on the table. He then straightened up and nodded respectfully before hurrying off to serve another customer.

Jim looked back at his daughter, but she didn't seem to want to talk to him anymore. Successfully avoiding her father's gaze, Cecilia pulled two slices off the sausage side of the pizza onto her plate, peeled a breadstick away from the basket, and began to eat. Shaking his head slightly, Jim grabbed a slice of pizza off the hawaiian half, took a bite, and decided that it wasn't worth it to push the subject anymore.

~/~

A bell jingled slightly as Cecilia and Jim walked together out of the candlelit Cuginos pizza parlor and into the darkening Scranton outdoors. Cece shivered as she began to head over to the car. But her father stopped her.

"Hold on, sweetie. Do you mind just taking a walk with me for a few minutes?"

Cece looked incredulously at her father. "Dad, it's freezing out! And aren't we due at Grandma's soon?"

"Not for another hour. C'mon, our jackets are in the car. We can bundle up before we leave."

Cecilia seemed to be looking for a way out of the request. "But why?" she whined, one side of her mouth turned up disdainfully. "Where are we going?"

Jim looked down at her. His eyes looked a little sad. "I just want to show you something." he hesitated, then went on, "Something I hope won't color your opinion of your mother's and my relationship, that's all."

Cecilia looked up at her father, his sincerity seeming to affect her in a way she hadn't anticipated. She finally heaved a deep sigh.

"Fine." she huffed before turning around and heading toward the car, going to retrieve her jacket. The father couldn't help but smile at her retreating figure.

Jim knew his daughter was a total romantic. That's why he decided to finally show her the whole story of how he and Pam got together.


	4. When Harry Met Sally

In an effort to extinguish any possibility of Cecilia whining the entire time about being freezing cold, Jim bought them both hot chocolates from a nearby coffeeshop. They clutched the foam cups in their benumbed hands and sipped at the steaming liquid as they wandered down the cool October streets of Scranton.

"Are we there yet?" Cecilia said with a slight groan, opening the lid of her cup and prodding the melty marshmallows with a twitch of her finger.

Jim chuckled. "Cece, we've only been walking for, like, thirty seconds."

"Still..." The teenage girl mumbled quietly. Jim saw, out of the corner of his eye, his daughter withdraw her hand from the coffee cup and dip into her pocket for her cell phone. Jim looked away, taking a sip of his own drink.

The two walked in silence for awhile. Jim took in his surroundings, a fond, reminiscent gleam in his eye as Cecilia walked beside him, texting apathetically on her phone. Surprisingly, not many Scranton residents were out this evening, sending an odd, lonely chill upon the rather dilapidated old town. The cold dusk shone faintly through gray clouds on the horizen as only Jim and Cecilia wandered down the cracked and broken sidewalks of Scranton.

After many bland minutes of walking, their hot chocolates gone and thrown away in a nearby dumpster, Cecilia shoved her cell back into her pocket with an impatient huff. Looking back up, the girl pushed her bright blonde bangs away from her eyes and slumped her shoulders. "Dad, this is really stupid. Where are we even going?"

"You'll see." Her father said tantalizingly.

Cecilia, who did not like to be humored, scowled. "Wherever we're going, I'm sure it's not as fabulous as you're making it out to be."

Jim glanced at the girl before gazing pensively out into space again. "Hm... you would think that."

Cecilia didn't answer, and the two trekked on. They turned onto Slough Avenue when Jim felt that he should at least fill her in on what they were about to see. Licking his lips nervously, Jim glanced sideways at his daughter and broke into speech:

"So, about twenty years ago, I began working at a certain paper company located right here in Scranton – a small business establishment, called Dunder-Mifflin. Your mother actually worked there as well... she was the receptionist and I was a salesman. Both jobs were desperately dull – trust me, it was awful. All the days just seemed to blur together after a while, y'know?"

Jim paused and looked over at his daughter again. She was looking at her father, listening intently. Jim looked forward again, continuing:

"... I won't hesitate in saying that fell completely and hopelessly in love with your mother the moment I laid eyes on her, and possibly even more so when she spoke to me that first time." Cece gave what seemed to be an involuntary giggle, and Jim smiled, allowing a short, reflective silence to grow between them. Cecilia broke it, however:

"What did she say to you, exactly?"

Jim smiled, and then recited the phrase off from memory. Cece's face showed utter bewilderment and confusion.

"Who the hell is Dwight, and why would you want to enjoy a moment to yourself before meeting him?"

Jim pretended to shudder. "Trust me – you just would. I'll tell you more about him some other time."

Cecilia nodded, coaxing him to continue with the story. Jim took a deep breath, and went on:

"Anyway, yeah... I could tell, even then, that your mother and I were meant for each other. Obviously, we clicked right away. We became friends almost immediately – I seriously doubt I would've survived that mind-numbing atrocity of a job if it weren't for Pam..."

"... Let me guess," Cecilia interrupted, squinting fixedly into space, "Your's and Mom's friendship grew over time in that office, with innocent glances and smiles at each other here and there, until you guys tentatively ease into an awkward, yet overall exciting relationship that hits many hardships and roadblocks over time, but all that's done is turn your formless lump of a romance into a solid, indestructible diamond that's ready to face all the challenges and assertions of a marital companionship."

Cecilia finished, staring into space for a few more seconds before coming to herself with a small shake of her head. She then looked up at her father, who was staring at her.

The girl grinned meekly. "Sorry. Katie and I just watched _When Harry Met Sally_ last night."

Jim raised an eyebrow in an amused sort of way. "Yes, I can see that."

Cecilia giggled uncomfortably, tucking a yellow lock of hair behind her ear. Jim suddenly spotted something beyond his daughter, and stopped in his tracks. He nodded in that direction.

"Look."

Cecilia turned to look where her father was gazing and stopped too. They had reached a rusty gate, at least twelve feet tall, locked shut with an equally rusty padlock and chain. A large sign hung on the wire gate: "_Warning! Stay out! This structure is the property of Scranton City Hall..._"It continued with a large paragraph underneath about fining violators. To their left and right, overgrown hedges rose high and covered most of the gate which spanned the lot's perimeter; a cheap camouflage to a somewhat ugly protection system. Through the small portion doorway of the gate that wasn't blocked by hedges, however, Cecilia could see a neglected parking lot in front of a vast, grey-bricked building. Weeds grew out of the cracks in the cement, and several windows in the building had been smashed out. A sign saying _Local Scranton Business Park _hung pathetically from one of it's ends above the smashed-open front door. The entire structure looked as if it were falling apart at the seams.

"Pretty." Cece supplied expressionlessly.

Jim peered at it sadly through the gate. "Well... that 'pretty' place was once Dunder-Mifflin."

Cecilia's eyebrows raised ever so slightly, her eyes roving over the building's unchecked face. "Oh."

"Yeah, I didn't think it could've gotten much worse than it was before I'd left, but..." Jim trailed off. Cecilia offered a weak chuckle.

There was a silence, until Cecilia finally broke it, still gazing at the building with her long-lashed eyes. "So this is where it all happened?"

"Yep." Jim's lips twitched slightly, staring at the business park as well, "...But it happened just a little differently from what you guessed."

Cece grinned sheepishly and finally looked away from the office park to gaze up at her father. "How did it happen then? You two didn't 'ease into that awkward yet exciting relationship' did you?"

"Nope. She was engaged, actually."

The girl blinked, looking slightly taken aback at his bluntness. "Come again?"

Jim laughed, leaning a shoulder against the wire gate and looking down at his daughter. "I said that your mother was engaged to a different guy when I met her. Roy, I believe his name was."

Cecilia's eyes suddenly flashed. "Are you serious?" she said loudly, and Jim was shocked to hear anger in her voice. "You stole Mom away from her fiance? That's awful! She was about to get _married_ and you just thought you would - ?"

" - Whoa, whoa!" Jim cut her off quickly, raising his hands up, his eyes wide. "It wasn't like that! It wasn't like that at all!"

Cecilia quieted, though she still looked thoroughly disgusted with him.

Jim continued. "You have to understand, Roy's and Pam's relationship was very shaky from the start. Your mother was very unhappy being with him, and the two had actually been engaged for almost four whole years before Pam had to call it off. And I swear..." the man added sincerely, "... I never once tried to seduce your mother away from Roy while they were together."

Cecilia still looked sulky, though slightly reassured. "You swear?"

Jim nodded once. "I merely brooded in self-pity, that's all."

She looked at him for a second before giving him a reluctant smile. "Okay."

Jim smiled fully back. Bravely, it seemed, he reached out an arm and wrapped it around Cecilia's slim shoulders, pulling her roughly yet lovingly to his side in a one-armed embrace. He was relieved to hear the girl giggle when he did this, feeling her blonde head press gently against his ribcage. Grinning, Jim began walking down the sidewalk, still holding his daughter at his side. Luckily, Cecilia seemed to enjoy being in this close proximity to her father. When she spoke next, she sounded much cheerier:

"So you two got together after Roy and her broke up?"

"Not exactly. A few weeks _before_ Pam left him, actually, I finally brought up the nerve to tell your mother how I really felt. I told her that I was really sorry, but I promised her that everything I said was true. And I just didn't want to leave without her knowing... just once... just so that all of my feelings for her wouldn't mean nothing..."

Cece looked up at her father, who seemed to have zoned out a bit. His eyes were unfocused, and he was gazing at the sidewalk in a vacant sort of way.

"You were going to leave?" Cecilia piped up suddenly, and Jim seemed to come to himself with a small shake of his head.

"Yeah. Uh... you see, I had accepted a transfer to a different Dunder-Mifflin Branch. I was tired of pining over your mother; I figured it was finally time to move on, y'know?"

Cece nodded understandingly, her head still resting against her father's jacket.

"So you left Scranton?"

"Yup, I went to Stamford, Connecticut. And during that time, I kept trying to move on with my life, but to no avail. I even started dating a different girl: Karen." Jim smirked as he felt his daughter stiffening beside him. "... but that kind of went to pieces after she and I got transferred back here to Scranton."

Cece looked up at Jim with wide, shocked eyes. "No..."

Jim laughed. "Yep, it was pretty surprising. There was a mass merger between our branches, meaning I had to go back to the very office where I had continually gotten my heart broken for over three years."

Cecilia shook her head. "If I were you, I'd've just moved to a different state." Jim smiled.

"Don't think that thought didn't cross my mind. It was a difficult decision to make, but in the end I managed to convince myself that Karen and I had a good relationship going, and that I was completely over your mother. But... I was sadly mistaken."

"Duh." The girl deadpanned, and Jim chuckled.

"Yeah, if only you were there to hit me over the head..." Jim pointedly shook his daughter, and she laughed. Reaching up, she smacked her father in the head, and Jim flinched away as if she had hit him hard. Both of them laughed, still walking down the cold sidewalks of Scranton with Jim's arm slung casually around her shoulders. The two were still grinning as they turned back onto the road where the car was parked.

"So you and Mom got together after you and that other girl broke up, right?"

Jim looked down at Cece, and smiled. "Right."

They walked for a few more seconds in silence.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

Cecilia smiled, tilting her head up toward her father. "If you and Mom die, and forget to leave me and Katie a will... could I sell your guys's story for movie rights?"

Jim shoved her playfully, and after a brief tussle, Cecilia broke away from her father and sped toward Cuginos parking lot at breakneck speed, laughing hysterically. Jim, grinning hugely, chased after her.


	5. Love and Peace

**Disclaimer: Ich besitze The Office nicht!**

**(That was German for 'I do not own the Office'. I can also write it in Klingon.)

* * *

**

_Hello, you've reached Pam Halpert's cell phone. I'm unable to answer your call right now, so please leave a message and I'll get back to you ASAP._

_*****beep*_

"Hey, sweetie. It's Jim. Sorry I didn't call a little earlier, Cece and I went for a walk and I was busy showing her all the sights of Scranton. Anyway, we made it safely to Helene's house at around 7:30 and her armoire is doing okay in a storage facility now. I think your mother misses it already, heh heh. Um, anyway, we just sat and chatted with her for awhile afterward, and then Penny and Cal came over a little later in the evening. Of course, Cece got stuck babysitting little Sheila while all us grown-ups talked, but I don't think she minded. Cecilia actually likes little kids – who knew? Anyway, yeah, the reason I'm calling right now is that I was watching the traffic report earlier and there was a huge car crash on the interstate about an hour ago – like a seven-car pile-up including two semitrucks, I think it was. If Cece and I were to leave now, we would be held up by about an hour and a half, so we wouldn't get home until about one-thirty. I don't know if you can tell by my voice, but I'm really exhausted from today, and I doubt I could stomach driving a whole road trip, even without the car crash. Also, I think if Cece were to drive she'd be too intimidated driving at night with the crash and everything, so if it's all right with you, we're just going to stay in a hotel here in Scranton tonight and come back to Preston tomorrow. So don't worry when you wake up and we're not home yet, we'll be fine, we're just going to be a little late... Oh, yeah, and your mother wanted me to tell you that she's doing fine and says that she loves you and misses you very much. We'll be home tomorrow, I promise. Okay, love you. Bye.

_*End message*_

~/~

Saturday

8:30 a.m.

"I still can't believe Grandma did this for Mom." Cecilia said incredulously, examining the contents of the box set on her lap with amazement.

It was morning, and Cecilia and Jim were now driving back home, Jim at the wheel this time. They had woken up early, breakfasted quickly at the hotel, and immediately began the long drive back to New Jersey. Helene, of course, being the grandmother she was, didn't want the two to leave the state without ladening them with food and presents. Tupperware dishes of Helene's delicious homemade sweets were piled in the backseat. She also decided to go shopping for them yesterday morning, before they had even arrived, and bought Jim several new ties as well as a cute dress for Cece. The knee-length, floaty pink material was dubbed "a little girly" by Cecilia, but was redeemed slightly in her eyes by the neon lime-green cardigan and flats that came with it.

Cece had honestly appreciated all these gifts from her grandmother, but the thing that had caught her attention the most was the gift Helene had in store for Pam:

It was Pam's old teapot, but Helene had changed it, and Cecilia had to admit that the once-bland faded green teapot now looked positively extravagant. Around the entire body of the pot Helene had painted an elaborate scene of a gorgeous Victorian house in a vast field of summer-green grass with several oak trees scattered here and there. The house had many windows, each with its own terrace blooming with flowers, and a large front porch with a small bench. On the bench sat two tiny people, a man and a woman, holding hands and leaning against each other lovingly. It was obviously sunset, for the background was a glowing yellowish-orange.

On the lid, Helene had written a quote in swirly, black calligraphy:

_The most anyone can hope for in life is love and peace._

Cecilia practically mooned over this piece of artwork, which Jim found to be rather amusing, for his daughter rarely 'mooned' over anything at all.

Jim now grinned, glancing at his daughter in the passenger's seat. "That painting took her almost an entire year to complete, but she finally finished it, as a surprise for your mother."

Cecilia smiled at the teapot, much like how she had smiled at Jim in Cuginos the previous day. A small silence stretched between them.

"So you think your mother will like it?" Jim asked, sincerely wanting his daughter's opinion on the matter.

Cecilia turned to look at her father. "Even if she doesn't like it, it can't be worse than that anniversary where you bought her the _entire_ Star Wars collection on DVD. I mean, what - ?"

Jim immediately spoke over her, defending his atrocious gift as of five years ago, but with a smile on his face all the same. The two got into a spirited debate over Pam's "pleased" reaction over the gift, and why watching the Empire Strikes Back _once_ with her husband did not automatically make the woman a fan, all the way back home to New Jersey.

~/~

Saturday

10:30 p.m.

"But Cece...!"

"No."

"Oh, but...!

"_No_, Katie!"

"Ugh, why _not_?" Katie whined annoyingly, stamping her bare foot on the carpeted floor in her room. Cecilia scowled.

"Be_cause_, Twerp, Dad is in the living room right now giving Mom her present and they don't want to be disturbed!"

"So?" The little girl had the familiar glint of mischief in her eye. "I just want to see what Daddy bought her, that's all."

Cecilia grit her teeth in frustration, "I told you before: Dad didn't buy her a present, the present is from Grandma, okay? And Dad's been trying to find the perfect moment to show Mom the gift all day, so don't spoil it for him. You'll find out tomorrow morning, anyway. I'm sure Mom would want to show you."

Katie groaned. "But I want to find out _now_! I'll only be five minutes, I promise!"

"Didn't you ever learn that it's rude it eavesdrop, Katie?" Cecilia looked at the little girl sternly.

Katie lowered her eyes, pouting. "Yes..."

"And _what _would spying on Mom and Dad be considered?"

"Eavesdropping." The girl answered resentfully.

"Okay." Cece nodded, satisfied. "Now, Mom told me I had to make sure you got to sleep all right tonight, and it's way past your bedtime."

Katie heaved a huge sigh. "Fine." she said miserably before being led by her sister to her bed. Cecilia tucked her in tightly, handed Katie all her requested stuffed animals (Tucker the black lab and Charlie Brown, her purple plush octopus, whose bald head she attributed to the beloved cartoon character), and finally flicked off the lights.

"G'night Cece." Katie said quietly, smiling weakly at her big sister in a reassuring sort of way.

"Good night, Katie-bear." Cece said, and Katie giggled at the nickname her mother came up for her when she was three years old. Cecilia then walked through the door, closing it behind her, and padded to her own room across the narrow hallway. She slipped through the doorway, and closed it with a soft snap.

For several long moments, there was complete silence throughout the house, with only the indistinct murmurs of Jim and Pam in the other room, until a soft _thump_ came from inside Katie's bedroom. There was a small pause, then the door creaked open ever so slightly, revealing the large blue eye of an eight-year-old girl peeking out into the hallway to check if the coast was clear. She then opened the door a little more, glanced quickly at her older sister's door, to make sure it was still closed, and stepped out into the hallway.

Tiptoeing slowly and carefully over the carpeted hall floor, Katie made it silently to the kitchen, which adjoined to the living room. Sitting on the couch, its back to Katie, were her Mom and Dad, talking in low voices. Katie lowered herself silently to the floor and crawled toward the kitchen counter where her mother and her had made taco salad for dinner and slid behind one of the stools. Katie smirked to herself, mashed between the counter and the stool, proud of finding such a perfect hiding spot. The girl yawned widely, then nestled herself more comfortably in her spot before listening intently:

Pam was talking. " - think they've stopped arguing yet?"

The sound of a body shifting in its seat: "Yeah, I think so. I don't hear them anymore..."

"So what's this gift from Mom you keep going on about?"

"Right. Here..." Another sound of someone shifting and then the rustle of cardboard. "Okay, now – close your eyes."

Katie couldn't see her mother, but assumed that she did close her eyes. Jim pulled whatever the thing was from the box, and Katie strained her neck, trying desperately to see what it was. She couldn't see it from her position on the floor however, and slumped back down, disappointed.

"Okay. Open!"

Pam suddenly gasped. Katie wanted more than anything to see what her Dad got her Mom, but couldn't bring herself to try and look again. Katie could hear her mommy whispering rapturously about the gift, and her daddy's chuckling response, but found that she didn't really care anymore. Katie yawned again, even wider this time, and felt her eyes drooping slowly, sleepily...

~/~

"Well look who escaped from bed this evening."

Pam and Jim had gotten up to go to bed, but noticed a figure sleeping soundly under the counter as they were making their way to the hallway. Moving aside the stool that was in front of her, Jim saw Katie slumped on the floor, her knees still drawn up to her chin and her head lolling onto one shoulder, her long brown hair spilling over her face. Pam looked deeply amused.

"I think she was trying to find out what Grandma got for me."

"But she misjudged how sleepy she was, didn't she?" Jim looked down at his peacefully sleeping daughter with an adoring glint in his eye.

"Yeah." Pam smiled, setting the beautiful teapot down on the counter. "I'll show her tomorrow, though. When she's more well-rested."

"Right." Jim bent down and scooped up his daughter in his arms. She didn't wake up as he heaved her up so she was resting on his hip, and she still didn't wake up when the two parents walked down the hall and brought her into her room. Pam pulled back the comforter once again and Jim laid her down on the sheets. The mother then covered the girl up so she all that was visible was her head. Katie slept on.

The two parents watched the girl for a few moments before they turned and walked out. Once the door to Katie's room was closed, Pam turned to look at her husband, a small grin on her face. "Thank you."

Jim smiled and slipped an arm around his wife's shoulders. "For what, sweetie?"

Pam glanced surreptitiously at Cecilia's bedroom door, then at Katie's, and smiled even more. "Just for... being who you are, I guess."

Jim didn't really understand what she was talking about, but smiled back anyway, not really worrying about it.


End file.
